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Derby chase down Wolves in solid win

In his pre match press conference the Derby County head coach Paul Clement was keen to try and beat the points tally between the first and second international breaks off the season as the Rams went into their home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers after an unbeaten spell only dropping two points in the goalless draw against Burnley.

Derby County [4] Wolverhampton Wanderers [2] - Attendance: 29,063

The former Chelsea, PSG & Real Madrid assistant named an unchanged starting eleven from the previous match against Brentford over a fortnight ago. Only Darren Bent returned to the substitutes bench in replacement for the young midfielder Jamie Hanson. The midfield trio of Thorne, Hendrick and Johnson keeping deadline day signing Jacob Butterfield and Scottish box to box playmaker Craig Bryson waiting in the wings after it was announced this week that the latter was back in full training after his injury setback suffered on the opening day at Bolton.

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After opening the scoring for Scotland in their comprehensive final game of the European Championship qualifying against Gibraltar on Sunday night, Chris Martin led the line as captain once again for Derby and helped his club get off to a flying start, after a quick passing move teed up the former Norwich City striker to hit a thunderous rising drive into the top corner after only three minutes.

Shortly after, a powerful drive from George Thorne stung the finger tips of the on loan Argentinean goalkeeper Emillano Martinez to prevent the Rams taking a two goal lead in the opening ten minutes. However foiled by a slick training ground move the away side in their change colours levelled when Benik Afobe drilled home a low corner.

A determined Chris Martin couldn’t find his second after a tame touch was parried away by the goalkeeper whilst at the other end former Wolves defender Shackell blocked Adam Le Fondre as the game pulsated. Despite this the Rams found gold when a lofted pass from Johnson found the young goalkeeper in no mans’ land who missed the punch as Chris Martin’s head contacted the ball to put Derby back ahead.

The on loan from Arsenal goalkeeper spared his blushes just before half time after Tom Ince was brought down just inside the area. Looking for his hat-trick Chris Martin was thwarted as the goalkeeper at full stretch denied him pushing the ball away for a corner.

Enthusiastic winger Johnny Russell took it where the ball was poked in by Bradley Johnson, his second since joining for a record £6 million and left the Wolverhampton defenders standing like statues in their own box.

Half Time: Derby County 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

It was the surging runs of Russell which started the second half brightly for the home side, his fierce shot within a minute of the restart tested the goalkeeper once again and he nearly turned creator again as Shackell’s header missed the target from another corner.

However the Scotsman got his reward after tidy footwork by Jeff Hendrick and Craig Forsyth down the left wing pierced the backline of the opposition to make it 4-1 and send the home fans into raptures.

Despite this, Kenny Jackett encouraged his side to try and regain some dignity and it was the on loan Cardiff City striker Le Fondre who reduced the lead after acrobatically volleying a knocked down cross.

Both sides looked to add their tally for the match, Johnson had a long range effort smothered by the goalkeeper, Russell’s poked volley was saved and Tom Ince saw a free kick sail over the crossbar, to keep the score line at 4-2.

Full Time: Derby County 4 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2

Paul Clement’s side will have sent their fans home very happy after this performance. The Derby County head coach hailed his striker and choice of captain Chris Martin for showing the best display by a SkyBet Championship striker this season in this match. The midfield duo of Jeff Hendrick and Bradley Johnson showed real quality too as it appears the side is starting to find their groove and true ability after a sluggish start after last season’s collapse.

The crowd enhanced by the generous gift of a scarf donated by chairman and owner Mel Morris made it a sea of black and white prior to kick off were fully behind their team from the first whistle and are now getting expectations starting to rise once more as the Rams climbed back into the top six which they had fallen out of on the last day of the previous season.

Onwards to Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night for Derby County, a side that have had a poor start to the 2015-2016 campaign and suffered two defeats to the Rams last year, the head coach will be hoping his side can pick up another three points making it six wins in seven and hopefully see his side continue to rise up the table.

Momentum is a huge factor in any SkyBet Championship side and Derby are finding that the positive impetus is steering the ship in the right direction once more.